Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 190

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 190. Broken Chains (5)

Whew.

Mugeongja, who had been blowing into the furnace several times, looked at the Shindo Elixir Cauldron.

The concave lid was transparent, and inside, steam writhed slowly like the mist of Moodang Mountain.

Mugeongja, who had been watching the scene with a tired face, slumped down onto a chair beside him.

“This is exhausting.”

He didn’t know how many months he had been doing this.

“They say sincerity moves heaven, but no matter how much I pray and pray again, nothing useful comes out. Though they also say alchemy is just technique and has nothing to do with sincerity.”

There was no need to grandly mention the saying about doing one’s best and leaving the rest to heaven, but he had truly tried every possible method.

Yet the auspiciousness of the Small Clear Pills was not what it used to be. It wasn’t that they had no value as spirit pills, but from Mugeongja’s perspective, having seen the spirit pills of previous generations directly, the results were utterly unsatisfactory.

“Master?”

“Hmm?”

When he turned his head, Unyang, the senior apprentice of the medicine hall, was standing there blankly.

“Haven’t you left yet?”

Mugeongja clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘I failed to sense him again.’

Even though his martial arts skills were nothing special, having practiced internal energy cultivation for many years, his senses far exceeded those of ordinary people. Yet he had failed to detect Unyang’s presence.

‘I’m getting old too.’

He smiled bitterly and sighed while grumbling.

“I think I need to try one more time.”

Unyang chuckled and pulled over a small chair to sit down.

“Please get some proper rest for a while. You haven’t slept for days studying alchemy.”

“You fool, the quality of spirit pills is dropping by the hour, how can I sleep?”

“They say people need sufficient sleep to have a clear mind.”

“My internal energy is abundant.”

“Does internal energy feed you?”

Though it sounded like a joke, Mugeongja knew Unyang was right.

Internal energy was internal energy, and sleep was sleep. Unless one reached such a sublime level as to be called a half-immortal, as long as one was human, sleep was absolutely necessary.

“I’ll just do this one more time and then go.”

“How long have you been at it?”

“About one hour.”

“It should be finishing soon.”

Bubble bubble.

As soon as he finished speaking, boiling sounds came from the Shindo Elixir Cauldron.

At the same time, mysterious blue patterns arose from various parts of the large cauldron. The energy, close to pale blue, seemed to cool one’s heart just by looking at it.

Mugeongja quickly stood up and pressed the cauldron’s lid with his hand.

He could feel the bubbling vibrations throughout his entire hand.

‘Please!’

He poured in everything he had prepared for over half a month. Now he just needed to apply pressure with his internal power to prevent the energy from leaking outside.

A moment later.

Whoooong.

The Shindo Elixir Cauldron emitted mysterious vapor before becoming quiet.

Unyang quickly removed the fire from the furnace, and Mugeongja opened the lid with a tense expression.

Whoosh!

Along with intense heat, subtle golden spirit pills revealed themselves.

Mugeongja’s expression grew darker by the moment as he examined each spirit pill with his bare hands, apparently unaffected by the heat.

Unyang asked with a nervous expression.

“How are they?”

“…”

“Master?”

“I should just go to sleep.”

Mugeongja irritably threw away the last spirit pill he held and slumped down in his chair.

“This time they’re all failures. I couldn’t salvage even one Small Clear Pill.”

Regret appeared on Unyang’s face.

“Next time will be fine.”

“What next time!”

Mugeongja, who had shouted in anger, soon sighed.

“Sorry. I’m not angry at you.”

“I understand.”

Unyang continued while cleaning up the cauldron.

“If it’s different from before, there must be something missing, don’t you think?”

“I think so too.”

“It would be nice if we could share information with alchemy practitioners from other Taoist sects.”

Mugeongja let out a bitter smile.

“The Sect Leader wouldn’t allow it.”

Unyang spoke as if he didn’t know.

“But development blooms through exchange…”

Mugeongja also spoke as if he didn’t know.

“At the main sect, there are many people who want to steal rather than exchange.”

The two men, who had been indirectly criticizing the current radical faction of Mu Dang, sighed simultaneously.

“You won’t be able to sleep anyway, right? Have some tea with me before you go.”

“Alright, thank you.”

That’s when it happened.

Thud!

The entire medicine hall building shook.

Mugeongja frowned.

“Is there another guy making elixirs at this late hour besides me?”

“Who knows? Undan perhaps?”

“That madness-filled guy still isn’t sleeping?”

“You know how he is. In some aspects, he’s more intense than you, Master.”

“Not just some aspects – he’s exactly three times more intense than me.”

Thoom!

“Well now? What a commotion. Is he trying to make Supreme Clear Pills or something?”

“A life challenging the impossible is always beautiful.”

That’s when it happened.

Crash!

It was a completely different sound from before.

When Unyang turned his head with a puzzled expression, Mugeongja’s face had hardened.

“This sound is…?”

“Unyang! Seal off all the buildings here immediately! I’m going to the storage!”

“What?!”

“You fool! It’s an intruder!”

Unyang was shocked.

“An intruder? Who would dare enter the Mu Dang Sect headquarters…”

Crash crash crash!

This time, truly spine-chilling sounds continued in succession.

The impact sounds were much closer than before.

Mugeongja’s complexion turned pale.

‘Damn! They’ve gotten this close already?!’

I don’t know who it was, but their speed was truly tremendous. It seemed there wouldn’t even be time to reach the storage.

And his thoughts immediately became reality.

Thud thud thud!

Holes were pierced throughout the unopened door.

At the same time, Unyang’s body crumpled down, and Mugeongja, who instinctively avoided the finger wind, took a hit to his thigh and fell on his backside.

‘Finger wind!’

Scrape.

The door opened with a sharp cutting sound.

“Impressive.”

A young man appeared beyond the opened door.

Someone wearing the robes of the Mu Dang Faction. He held a Songmun Ancient Sword in his hand.

Though he had a somewhat slender build, he was a very handsome young man. If not for the robes, one could believe he was the son of some regional dignitary.

Unyang blinked his eyes. He couldn’t properly comprehend what had just happened to him.

“M-Master? What is this?”

“Pressure point attack.”

Mugeongja swallowed hard.

“Without even seeing the target, he detected them by presence alone and struck the exact spot with precise force using finger wind. He even calculated the power needed to penetrate the door.”

“…What?”

“It’s a technique that only a peak master, no, a supreme master could demonstrate.”

Only then did Unyang look at Moyong Bi in shock.

“Could it be Sa Ryong Sam Bong?!”

Moyong Bi gave a bitter smile and slung his sword over his shoulder. Looking at the Songmun Ancient Sword carried in its sheath, one might wonder if it was a sword or a club.

“I hear that name quite persistently.”

“…Aren’t you?”

“No. And I’m not here to kill you people either.”

Mugeongja spoke with a stern expression.

“Even if you didn’t come to kill, the crime of unlawfully invading the medicine hall is not light. Moreover, for a Taoist priest to do such a thing.”

“I’m not a Taoist priest.”

“…Then what about those robes and that Songmun Ancient Sword?”

Then, an aged voice was heard.

“I gave them to him.”

One person entering through the open door.

Mugeongja, who had frowned thinking what other audacious person would barge in recklessly, soon gaped his mouth open.

“C-could it be?!”

“It’s been a long time, Mugeong.”

“Uncle Heo Joong!”

Unyang’s face turned pale.

Heo Joong Jin In was an elder of the previous generation of the Mu Dang Faction, a great elder who was like a grand-uncle to him.

“U-Unyang pays respects to Grand-Uncle Heo Joong!”

Unfortunately, having collapsed beside the furnace, his greeting looked quite disrespectful.

Heo Joong Jin In slightly bowed his head to reassure Unyang and spoke to Mugeongja.

“Given the situation, we had no choice but to subdue everyone and enter. Indeed, the medicine hall had quite formidable masters stationed there.”p>

It was natural for masters to be stationed given the nature of the medicine hall, but even within Mu Dang, it was an organization famous for its ironclad internal security system, so all those masters had become complacent.

Heo Joong Jin In was a master of Mu Dang martial arts and had considerable knowledge of formations, so naturally he knew all their weaknesses.

And it was Moyong Bi who had exploited those weaknesses like lightning to break through.

Mugeongja spoke with a trembling voice.

“Uncle. How could you do this? No matter that you’re an uncle, the medicine hall is…”

“The entire Mu Dang has already gone wrong, so there’s nothing more to be concerned about.”

“What?!”

“Dismantle the mechanism of the Yeongdan Storage.”

“…!!”

“We must heal Elder Brother Heo Do’s body. Open it.”

Mugeongja swallowed hard.

“Is Elder Heo Do in very poor condition? N-no! Even if that’s the case, without the sect leader’s permission…!”

Clang!

Moyong Bi drew his sword and summoned his Infinite True Qi.

“I really hate wasting time. It would be better to just break it.”

Heo Joong Jin In only wore a bitter expression and didn’t stop him.

Just as Mugeongja was about to shout something.

Rumble.

The pale blue energy that surged above the Songmun Ancient Sword rotated fiercely with a terrifying roar.

“Let’s start with that door. It probably won’t open if I just try to open it normally.”

Moyong Bi raised his sword.

Mugeongja unconsciously shouted.

“W-wait!”

Whoosh! Crash!

The iron door was shattered to pieces.

* * *

Heo Do Jin In’s eyes sparkled like starlight as he sat in lotus position in front of the hermitage.

Neung Hyeong, leaning against the hermitage wall in a relaxed posture, asked casually.

“Isn’t your butt getting cold?”

“It’s fine.”

“With your age, sitting on bare ground for long periods isn’t good for you, is it?”

Heo Do Jin In smiled.

“I am truly feeling the energy of Moodang Mountain properly for the first time in a long while. Though it’s a bit cold, I feel my mind gradually becoming clearer.”

“I’m sure it is.”

Neung Hyeong, who had been grumbling, took out jerky from his bosom and chewed it.

Heo Do Jin In, who had been glancing at Neung Hyeong, asked in a calm voice.

“Palace Master Neung.”

“I’m not a palace master anymore, not now.”

“Why didn’t you think to set things right?”

Neung Hyeong’s jaw, which had been crunching the jerky, stopped.

“Set what right?”

“Seongheolgung. With your level of power, couldn’t you have prevented the war?”

“…”

“I haven’t lived your life so I don’t know, but from what I can see, you also seem to regret the past quite a bit.”

An invisible bitterness appeared on Neung Hyeong’s face.

“Stop talking nonsense and properly prepare to discipline those idiotic disciples.”

“Do you also plan to travel the world disciplining your descendants?”

“…”

“That’s admirable.”

“What’s admirable about it?”

“Whether there’s affection or not, regretting and enduring the past is not an easy thing. Furthermore, taking action to correct past wrongs even now is difficult for anyone.”

Neung Hyeong unconsciously fell into thought.

Honestly, if it hadn’t been for Moyong Bi, he probably wouldn’t have come this far. Seeing how easily he was persuaded by that damn bastard’s words showed there was something that bothered him, but anyway, if he hadn’t met that guy, he might have lived freely holed up in some wild mountain without talking about responsibility.

“Stop with the useless talk. Responsibility aside, you know too that it’s not exactly a pleasant business, don’t you?”

Heo Do Jin In smiled bitterly.

“Indeed. I’m sorry, I made you unnecessarily troubled.”

An awkward silence settled between the two men.

Neung Hyeong, feeling unnecessarily uncomfortable, spoke with a sigh.

“Listen.”

“Please speak.”

“Steel your heart.”

“I am doing so.”

“Just trying isn’t enough. Think of your disciples as villains who have nothing to do with Mu Dang.”

“…I cannot do that.”

“You’ll have to. All the sins your disciples have accumulated, all that damage – who do you think it fell upon?”

“…”

“There are far more ordinary people in this world than Murim Warriors.”

Heo Do Jin In closed his eyes.

He could not think of his disciples as villains with whom he had no connection, as Neung Hyeong suggested. That too would be close to avoiding responsibility in some sense.

However… he would have to draw his sword with cold determination.

“Palace Master Neung.”

“I’m not a palace master, you bastard.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you enjoy being cursed at?”

Neung Hyeong’s eyes flashed.

“Usually guys who like being cursed at are also good at what they do. Are you ready?”

Far below the peak.

Six disciples were walking toward them.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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